SUMMER DVD'S; Stagecoach (1939)

By STEPHANIE ZACHAREK

Published: May 7, 2006

When an actor becomes an icon, audiences become so used to the convenient two-dimensional shorthand of iconography that they may forget what made him great in the first place. In John Ford's ''Stagecoach'' (now in a two-disc special edition), John Wayne offers a young man's version of the make-'em-wait drawl and that way of wearing his cowboy hat tipped low that later became so entrenched in our collective imagination. (The 1939 movie is being released as part of a 10-disc Wayne-Ford box set, along with 7 other titles, including ''The Searchers'' and ''The Long Voyage Home'' (the adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's short sea plays) and on the same day as a five-disc box set of rarely seen Ford titles, including ''Sergeant Rutledge'' and ''The Lost Patrol.'') In ''Stagecoach,'' Wayne is the Ringo Kid, a fugitive who hitches a ride on a stagecoach rambling through perilous Apache territory. The other passengers -- that is, the other citizens of this miniature democratic society -- include a liquor salesman and a sozzled doctor (Donald Meek and Thomas Mitchell, respectively), a gambler and faithful son of the Confederacy (John Carradine) and two women, a respectable soldier's wife (Louise Platt) and a woman of ill repute who goes by the marvelously jazzy name of Dallas (Claire Trevor). The men ingratiate themselves with the respectable wife, while barely casting even a distasteful glance in Dallas's direction. Ringo alone accords her the respect she deserves, not just as a woman but as a human being, and Wayne and Trevor (she was the bigger star at the time) circle each other with a delicate wariness that is moving to watch. Together, they are mapping out a modern vision of love and romantic partnership that has nothing to do with happily-ever-after sentimentality. It's thrilling to see Wayne, who was in his early 30's at the time, as a youthful persona with an old soul inside: his face reveals a surprising sweetness. ''Stagecoach'' encapsulates the appeal of the great westerns, showing the old West as a vast, uncharted territory full of dangers, not least of which was the tricky business of learning how to get along. (Warner Home Video, June 6, $26.98) STEPHANIE ZACHAREK